Juan Mata has been a regular for Manchester United this season, but the attacker was left out of Jose Mourinho’s 18-man squad for the trip to Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.
The 29-year-old will be out of contract at the end of this season, meanwhile, and it is understood that talks over an extension have not yet begun.
On Wednesday, it was reported that Real Madrid were interested in bringing the Spaniard to the Bernabeu when the January transfer window opens for business.
Mata, who is valued at £27m by transfermarkt.co.uk, has started seven Premier League games this season, but has not finished a single match, and being left out of the Chelsea fixture would have hurt the attacker.
United’s Twitter post on Wednesday, which was an interview with Mata, brought a furious reaction from the club’s supporters as they insisted that the attacker had been mistreated.
There is no question that the former Chelsea midfielder is one of the club’s most popular players with the United fans, and it would not go down well if they sold him at the start of 2018.
A selection of the best Twitter reaction can be found below:
